Posted by Webmaster on May 29, 2013 in Web 2.0 | Comments Off on YouKu-Tudou – Huge Potential in Mobile Videos

Youku attracts 30%+ of its traffic from mobile devices, yet it has not effectively monetized this traffic. According to Analysys, Youku ranks in the top two in both iOS and Android for cumulative downloads among online video mobile applications in China.

In addition, while the company continues to secure premium video content (e.g., exclusive partnership with TVB), it has also turned more aggressive in promoting user-generated and in-house-produced content. Notably, the recent Tudou video festival attracted ~18,000 video submissions and recorded over 230mn video views. Self-produced content should allow the company to expand its advertising inventory and offer more soft advertising solutions, such as sponsorship and in-program brand promotions, which have been a very successful advertising model for traditional TV stations.

Competition in online video remains intense. Acquiring PPS will make Baidu the second-largest online video platform in China and help deepen its user penetration.

Based on the data published by iResearch, in January, online video services captured the largest share of user time spent on PC and iPad, with ~38% and ~41%, respectively. It also captured ~11% of user time spent on smartphones, behind only instant messaging, mobile browser, and the time spent on smartphone personalization software.

Advertising on Youku / TuDou Platform
Currently, the company generates ~58% of its advertising sales from fast-moving consumer goods (FMCG) clients, followed by transportation and finance (combined for ~14% of total), telecoms (~8%) and IT services (~8%). To date, ~60% of Youku’s total advertising sales come from international clients. According to the company, only ~15% of its FMCG advertising sales are from domestic clients, and almost all of its automobile clients are international brands.

According to the company, there was only a ~50% overlap between Youku and Tudou for their top 100 customers before the merger.

Posted by Webmaster on May 28, 2013 in Web 2.0 | Comments Off on India e-Commerce Maturing – Scope of the Market

Internet penetration in India is only 150 mn as of FY2013 and is expected to increase to 330 mn by 2015. Currently one-third of the population accesses the internet only through the phone, one-third through the computer only and the rest on both computers
as well as mobile phones. By FY2015, only 10% of the users are expected to access internet only though a computer.

Smart phones in India are expected to post CAGR of 56% over FY2014-15. The increasing use of mobile phones in India is evident from the fact that 40% of the queries on Google now are routed through phones. The number of banking queries coming through the phone has increased 5X between FY2012 and FY2013, 3X for insurance and 2.5X for investing.

Online shopping has grown at more than 5X across the top eight states in India. The deep penetration of e-commerce is evident from the fact that over 9,000 PIN codes have been serviced by companies involved in the business spread over 3,500 towns. Statistics show that among people buying online, most belong to the 25-35 age group, 60% are families that have average monthly income over Rs72,000.

The scope/acceptability of e-commerce in India is increased by the favorable demographics in the country.

Posted by Webmaster on May 28, 2013 in Web 2.0 | Comments Off on Why Companies Must Invest in Social Media ?

The growing presence of the social media offers a strong business opportunity to many companies in the West to invest time and capital in this medium. Over the past one year, most of the Fortune-1000 companies dedicated personnel at the senior management level primarily to look at social media. Companies are actively listening to their customers and responding to them in the shortest possible time, which is enhancing customer loyalty and experience. (more…)

Posted by Webmaster on May 28, 2013 in 3G News / Data | Comments Off on Mobile remittances: Who benefits – Banks or Wireless Companies ?

Eko believes the mobile banking business model has (1) convenience, (2) trust and (3) security—all three attributes that are sine qua non in a banking business. However, what it lacks is the “invitation to everyone”. Models like cash, and to some extent hawala,
are open to all—anyone can access these systems. Therefore the process of inviting everyone to this business model has to be made easier.

The business model is to marry retail outlets (India has 10 mn of them) and mobile phones in the hands of 900 mn people. Over three years Eko has established over 700 outlets in Delhi while SBI in its 55 years has only 350 and ICICI in its 18 years has 97. Eko can roll out an access point (branch) at around US$100 while a bank branch will take ~US$90,000. Eko can reach a million outlets with around US$100 mn – and based on the business model of remittances alone, the outlets can break even in a matter of a few months.

It has a simple numeric interface that can work on as simple a phone as a Nokia 1100. By using the simple syntax “*543*<>*<>*<>, money can be transferred from one account to another through a mobile phone. The company has processed more than US$1 bn over the past three years and is doing ~US$1.5 mn a day on its network.

Motion Sensing Camera – The next generation Kinect system comes bundled and is required to work with the xBox One offering improved voice recognition (conversational command prompts), better player detection (more joint detection) and depth perception, and we think it will have up to four player tracking. Sony’s PlayStation Camera comes with the PS4 and offers the same features as Kinect. (more…)